All posts tagged "Clean Energy Solutions"

November 07, 2014

As we look at the November 4 election results throughout the country and especially in the U.S. Senate, many environmentalists may be feeling a bit defeated, and worried about the trajectory of recent federal progress setting unprecedented fuel economy standards and significantly reducing carbon pollution in the electric sector.

However, if you look closely at this week's election results, there are bright spots where the environmental agenda carried the day. It turns out that in California and Texas -- yes, Texas --the oil industry took a harder hit.

In Richmond, California, population 107,000 and home to a Chevron refinery that exploded in 1999 and again in 2012, the oil giant spent $3 million on the mayoral and city council races. The corporation's goals were to elect local officials who would not stand up to the corporation's egregious inspection and oversight practices that led to those devastating events. However, instead of falling prey to Chevron's overbearing advertising tactics and its election website purporting to provide the objective view, Richmond voters stood up to the oil giant and defeated all of Chevron's candidates. The victorious mayoral candidate had a campaign budget of about $50,000.

In California's San Benito and Mendocino counties, the voters also defeated more than $2 million of oil industry campaigning to pass measures that ban fracking within their borders. With only $140,000 of grassroots campaign money, ongoing advocacy among California communities demonstrated that the public is not buying the oil industry's deceptive claims that fracking is safe and will boost local economies. Instead, by exercising their right to vote, citizens spoke to protect homes, schools, public health, the environment, and scarce drinking water resources, and to boost investments in clean fuels.

And in Denton, Texas, at the heart of the state's energy boom, citizens resoundingly beat back the oil industry by banning fracking within city limits by a 59% to 41% margin. Again, the residents spoke out to say enough is enough.

Below, fracking in a residential neighborhood in Weld, Colorado, along the Rocky Mountain Front.

What's clear from these results is that the oil industry is dumping big bucks (relative to the opposition) into local politics to buy elections in an attempt to prolong our nation's dependence on dirty, dangerous fuels, and to undermine a transition to a clean fuel economy. But what's even clearer is that citizens aren't willing to be bought or duped by such dirty campaign tactics.

So in the midst of some of our post-election day woes, the citizens of Richmond, Denton, and San Benito and Mendocino Counties, provide a glimmer of hope that we can overcome dirty oil's pumping of money into campaign politics and beat back prolonged reliance on dangerous, climate-disruptive fuels.

In the upcoming weeks, California citizens have more opportunities to weigh in on extreme crude oil projects, including projects to expand rail transport of explosive, polluting crude oil through the San Francisco Bay Area and along California's treasured coastline. Please check back in the coming days for more information on how to take action.

Unfortunately, the June announcement by GDF Suez, which owns Mt. Tom, was not a binding commitment. "Our worry was that they were just 'mothballing' the facility while they rode out the current economically unfavorable conditions, in hopes of resuming operations at some point down the road," says James McCaffrey, senior campaign representative with the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign. That's McCaffrey at right, below, with Beyond Coal volunteer Rick Purcell.

Those worries were fueled by GDF Suez's attempt last spring to terminate a "compliance demonstration process" designedto ensure that the impact of the plant's emissions of harmful sulfur dioxide did not exceed federal air-quality standards.

But for the past two years, the Sierra Club had consistently been pushing the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to finalize enforceable sulfur dioxide limits, threatening legal action over the plant's expired air permit, which galvanized DEP's initiation of the compliance demonstration process.

"After GDF Suez announced this June that it was terminating the process, we turned up the heat," McCaffrey says. "Over the summer, the Club and its allies submitted over 1,000 petitions to Governor Deval Patrick and the DEP commissioner, and circulated a letter taking the agency to task for failing to protect public health."

And in early October DEP responded, mandating that the plant comply with the sulfur dioxide emissions standards before it would ever be allowed to resume operation.

October 15, 2014

A sold-out crowd of more than 250 people people attended the first ever "Earth, Wind, and Fire Energy Summit" earlier this month in Dallas, Texas. The Dallas Group of the Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter organized the event, which also included more than 22 speakers and 19 exhibitors.

"The two-day conference Oct. 4-5 focused on all forms of energy - coal, nuclear, natural gas, oil, wind, solar, geothermal, and waste to energy," said Rita Beving, conservation co-chair of the Dallas Group and coordinator of the conference. "The purpose was to inform the public beyond media 'soundbites' of what is going on currently with these forms of energy from both a national and state perspective, and what does the future hold for the potential use of all of these forms of energy. It also focused on the human and environmental impacts that these sources may have, be it from mining to transport."

"The Dallas/Ft. Worth area has experienced more than 33 earthquakes earlier in 2014 within a few months' timeframe and it is believed that these triggered earthquakes are caused by disposal wells and fracking," explained Beving. "Even the Mayor of Reno, one of the cities that has been afflicted with earthquakes, came to hear this speaker."

Other speakers discussed the effects of increased oil trains and fossil fuel exports, as well as pipeline safety issues. Just as important and well-attended were the sessions on wind and solar power.

Beving credits a great group of planning volunteers for making the conference so successful that it sold out 10 days in advance.

"It was also gratifying to see that the audience was at least three-fourths new people not affiliated or involved with the Sierra Club," she added. "There were many people who participated who otherwise may not have the kind of exposure to energy and environmental issues that Sierra Club volunteers have. We also had universities participate as sponsors and bring dozens of students."

The conference sponsors were the Dallas County Community College District, Public Citizen, EarthWorks, the Texas Campaign for the Environment Fund, Green Source DFW, the Seed Coalition, Texas Interfaith Power & Light, the League of Women Voters of Dallas, the Population Media Center, Breeze Energy, the Clean Water Fund, EarthDay Texas, Axium Solar, System Change Not Climate Change, Natural Awakenings, and the Texas League of Conservation Voters.

"The success of this conference shows that people are 'hungry' for better and deeper information on energy," said Beving. "Many attendees remarked that it was great to hear from experts on subjects of their concern, like pipeline vs. rail transport of oil in light of all the incidents reported in the U.S. and Canada.

"People also were interested in hearing about about fracking and groundwater contamination, about the proposed export of America's energy, about the potential for more wind and solar in the country, and that there are options for the financing of such renewables for home use."

October 10, 2014

More than 120 residents and community leaders who live near coal-fired power plants in Waukegan, Romeoville, and Pekin, Illinois, gathered at Waukegan's Municipal Beach on Lake Michigan in view of NRG Energy's 60-year-old Waukegan Generating Station for an event called Hands Across the Sand: Solidarity for Clean Water and Clean Power.

The event, organized by the Sierra Club's Clean Power Lake County campaign, began with a beach cleanup of several acres and ended with a program that included speakers from all three communities, each of which is home to an NRG coal plant.

"This was the largest beach sweep in Waukegan history," says Christine Nannicelli, an organizer with the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Illinois campaign. "We had a fantastic turnout from the Latino community, and we concluded the program holding hands along the lakefront in the shadow of the Waukegan coal plant."

Community members took photo petitions such as the one at left, demanding that New Jersey-based NRG transition from coal to clean energy. (David Crane is the president and CEO of NRG.)

"We've gathered almost 500 photo petitions, and they've been a very effective campaign tool," Nannicelli says. "People are ready to begin a new chapter and really turn up the pressure on NRG."

The Waukegan Generating Station is the largest source of water pollution in Lake County, which also has the highest ozone smog levels in Illinois. Asthma rates among children in Waukegan are more than three times the national average. However, NRG announced in August that it would continue to burn coal at the Waukegan plant.

All of NRG's coal plants in Illinois damage local waterways with mercury emissions and toxic coal ash waste. The Waukegan plant's coal ash ponds sit right next to the Lake Michigan shoreline.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency issued violation notices to the Waukegan, Romeoville, and Pekin power plants in 2012 for high levels of contaminants in groundwater near their coal ash ponds.

Sierra Club volunteer David Villalobos, a leader in the Clean Power Lake County campaign, emceed the Hands Across the Sands event. Other speakers included Dulce Ortiz from Coalitión Latinos Unidos de Lake County; Ellen Rendulich from Citizens Against Ruining the Environment (CARE); Tracy Fox from Peoria Families Against Toxic Waste; Faith Bugel from the Environmental Law & Policy Center; and Antonio Lopez of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization.

Below, Lopez presents Ortiz with a bandana from the People's Climate Justice Summit, held in New York City following the People's Climate March and concurrent with the UN Climate Summit, in recognition of their shared goals of environmental and economic justice.

"We also had prayers from our two church partners in the campaign," Nannicelli says. "This was the first time residents of Waukegan, Romeoville, and Pekin have gathered in solidarity to share their vision of a clean-energy future and call on NRG to commit to retirement dates for their coal fleet in Illinois. Folks are fired up."

All photos except photo petition by Karen Long MacLeod, courtesy of Clean Power Lake County.

October 09, 2014

On October 8, some 30 Sierra Club volunteers and four staffers with the Club's Beyond Coal campaign delivered more than 10,000 petitions to Puget Sound Energy's legislative office in Olympia, urging PSE to replace the coal power in its portfolio with clean energy such as wind and solar and efficiency measures that would create thousands of jobs in the Pacific Northwest.

Prior to delivering the petitions, the activists held a press conference in the Legislative Rotunda at the state capitol, below, where they presented a report card grading PSE on its current energy portfolio. The utility's marks were generally high, but it received an "F" for coal, as more than 30 percent of its electricity supply comes from the Colstrip coal-burning power plant in Montana, the Northwest's largest source of carbon pollution. PSE is the primary owner of the Colstrip plant.

"We're fortunate to have Puget Sound Energy as a strong community partner that has supported incentives for homes, businesses, and government offices to save electricity," said Beyond Coal senior campaign representative Doug Howell. "Now we're asking PSE take the next step in its energy leadership by replacing dirty coal with clean energy and efficiency."

Governor Jay Inslee has laid out a climate plan for Washington, and transitioning away from out-of-state coal electricity -- what he calls "coal-by-wire" -- is among his priorities. Inslee signed his Climate Action Plan on the back of a solar panel at a signing ceremony in April, saying the state has a moral responsibility to act on climate change.

PSE has been responsive in developing an ever-cleaner energy portfolio, but it continues to draw power from Colstrip, maintaining that coal-fired electricity is reliable and cost-effective. "As one of Colstrip's owners, PSE could be liable for its carbon pollution, groundwater contamination, and toxic, leaking coal ash ponds," Howell said. "Moving beyond coal is a smart investment for Northwest families and PSE alike."

PSE is now planning the next 20 years of electricity delivery, but the Sierra Club report card gave the utility an "Incomplete" due to uncertainty about whether it will replace coal power with clean energy.

"PSE can either continue investing in old-fashioned, dirty, and increasingly expensive out-of-state coal plants, or in clean, renewable wind, solar, and efficiency that creates family-wage jobs," said Club organizer Seth Ballhorn. "Washington has abundant clean, affordable energy resources and a tradition of innovation and leadership and sustainability. It's time for PSE to join us in transitioning beyond coal."

Also speaking was Bob Guenther, a longtime union representative with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. The Club and labor-affiliated groups share a strong commitment to ensuring that Washington's coal-to-clean-energy transition creates good family-wage jobs for Northwest workers.

"Good family living jobs will come with solar, wind, and efficiency," Guenther said. "We'd like PSE to look into these alternative ways to produce energy in the Northwest. IBEW will help provide a world-class workforce."

October 01, 2014

The huge People's Climate March in New York City on September 21 dominated the headlines -- and rightly so, as some 400,000 people marched through the streets of Midtown Manhattan. But the New York march was just one of 2,646 solidarity events in 162 countries around the globe. From Sydney to Santa Fe, Rio de Janeiro to the Rio Grande, everyday citizens turned out to tell world leaders that the time for climate action is now.

"We wanted our events in Albuquerque and Santa Fe to be journeys -- pilgrimages -- with stops along the way where people could learn about climate disruption, solutions to the challenges we face, and how they can get involved," says Rio Grande Chapter director Camilla Feibelman.

That's Feibelman, below, firing up the crowd in Santa Fe, where around 700 people participated.

Santa Fe

"We had speakers at each stop, and everyone who signed our petition supporting strong EPA carbon rules got a sticker," Feibleman says. "We called on Governor Susana Martinez to retract her opposition to cleaning up coal-fired power plants and urged utilities and state government to invest in renewable energy. By the end of the day, we'd collected about 1,000 names of new potential activists."

Santa Fe

Albuquerque-based Sierra Club organizer Dustin Chavez-Davis says the theme of the pilgrimage was to connect the dots about how the climate crisis is related to other issues, including immigration, labor, food systems, and energy production. Some 400 people participated in the Albuquerque pilgrimage.

Albuquerque

"Hundreds of people signed our petition and learned about the intersection of various issues affecting our community," Chavez-Davis says. "The event not only raised awareness about climate disruption, it gave people the opportunity to take action supporting investments in clean, renewable energy."

Albuquerque

"The pilgrimage brought in lots of folks from outside the typical climate activist mold," Chavez-Davis says. "It was a great opportunity to tie into issues that the Sierra Club and the broader environmental community don't connect to on a daily basis."

Albuquerque

"Leaders from all the organizations participating in the event stressed the intersection of the various issues affecting the community and how they're related to the climate movement, not separate from it. It was powerful to come together and hear stories from immigrant justice workers, faith leaders, environmental activists, and people who work with underserved members of our community."

September 25, 2014

In 152 cities and 39 US states, more than 90,000 people attended events last week associated with the 2014 National Drive Electric Week. Getting people into plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) to experience the fun, quiet, and clean air benefits of EVs first-hand was part of the point. Event organizers from San Diego alone reported 600 test rides, and Littleton, CO reported a respectable 200. All told from our city captains, we estimate that there were more than 5,500 test rides in plug-in cars at our events.

California Governor Jerry Brown celebrated National Drive Electric Week by signing a number of new EV programs into law. One measure sets a goal of one million plug-in vehicles on the road in California by the end of 2022, about a tenfold increase in the next eight years. The legislation directs the state Air Resources Board to draft a plan to meet that goal and make sure that disadvantaged communities can participate. The policies will also ensure that it's easier for EV drivers to install charging units in apartment building parking areas. "We face an existential challenge with the changes in our climate," Brown said about the EV programs and other environmental initiatives he announced on Sunday, timed to coincide with a United Nations climate summit. "The time to act is now. The place to look is California. We're not finished, but we sure are setting the pace."

In New York City on Sunday, an estimated 400,000 people took to the streets to demand serious action among world leaders to address climate change. As part of Drive Electric Week, our 'EV Bloc' participated in the People's Climate March with signs like "Don't Pollute on Your Commute."

Public officials nationwide came out in droves to test drive and promote plug-in cars last week. Governor Jay Inslee of Washington issued a Drive Electric Week proclamation for his state. There was a "wicked strong" showing at the Cranston, RI event: U.S. senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, Congressmen Jim Langevin and David Cicilline, Mayor Allan Fung, and Rhonde Island Office of Energy Resources Commissioner Marion Gold all turned out to celebrate plug-in cars in the ocean state. In Juneau, Alaska, several mayors, Attorney General Michael Geraghty, and state representative Cathy Munoz gathered for test drives and promotion of new charging stations.

Stephanie Rawlings-Blake of Baltimore was among many mayors who issued ‘drive electric' proclamations for their cities and towns. Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles said in his own proclamation, presented at UCLA, that EVs "reduce our dependence on foreign fuels, and support a healthy environment and economy."

Many other students participated in Drive Electric Week this year, thanks to our new Ambassador Schools initiative. Still in pilot phase, we expect to have more about this program next year, but the idea is to raise awareness of EVs among youth. In Murray, Utah, about 450 of young and old alike got to check out not only electric cars, but also electric motorcycles, bicycles, and lawn-mowers. Even Mike Lookinland, also known as Bobby Brady from The Brady Bunch, showed up to talk about his love for EVs.

Most of the events were in the US, but gatherings took place in four other nations as well. Many thanks go to sponsors and other supporters in the US and abroad. Automakers, dealerships, solar and EV-charging equipment companies, as well as municipalities, government agencies, and universities are among them. It wouldn't be fair to name only a few, but we do want to send a shout out to our exclusive automotive sponsor, Nissan LEAF.

Media interest in National Drive Electric Week was unprecedented this year, with coverage appearing in more than 180 national and local outlets. The Weather Channel broadcast prime-time TV news coverage, and EV owners of all sorts got some ink from coast-to-coast. Attending a Woodland Hills, Calif. event, Linda Tcimpidis spoke to a reporter with the Los Angeles Daily News. "I love this car," said Leaf driver Tcimpidis, 61. Added the event's 17-year-old organizer, Eric Doroski: "It's the future of cars, being plugged in."

National Drive Electric Week was a hit on social media, too, reaching a peak of 3.4 million Twitter users. If you want to spread the good news about plug-in cars, please share this article. Also, post a comment to let us know how your local event went and how charged up you are.

Photo 1: an EV parade in Copenhagen, courtesy of John Krøll; Photo 2: Kendra Griffin with her sons in New York City, courtesy of Gina Coplon-Newfield; Photo 3: workplace charging event in Wellesley, MA, courtesy of Bob Frechette Photography and John Hancock Property Management.

September 22, 2014

"Coursing through Midtown, from Columbus Circle to Times Square and the Far West Side, the People's Climate March was a spectacle even for a city known for doing things big."

So said the New York Times in its front-page coverage of the People's Climate March in Manhattan.

More than 400,000 citizen activists, including more than 25,000 Sierra Club members, joined in what is being called the largest climate march in history.

It was also the largest-ever gathering of Sierra Club members and supporters in the history of the organization. More than 100 buses from 35 states were organized and funded by the Club, which also ran Climate Caravan trains from Washington, D.C., the Midwest, and as far away as California.

Indigenous groups, labor, youth, scientists, food justice and clean water activists, religious groups, and civil rights organizations joined environmental groups in calling on world leaders attending the UN Climate Summit in New York this Tuesday to start taking real action to halt climate disruption.

Among those marching were United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon, former vice president Al Gore, and New York mayor Bill de Blasio, who just announced that the city was committing to an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The march's official starting point was on 59th Street at Columbus Circle, on the southwest corner of Central Park. But from the early morning hours, the crowd stretched for miles up Central Park West to 86th St. and beyond, swelling in numbers and energy with each passing hour.

Banners were raised, speakers, drummers, and musicians fired up the crowd, and marchers swapped stories as helicopters beat the air overhead.

At the Sierra Club stage at 75th St., Club president David Scott, Beyond Coal director Mary Anne Hitt, national program director Sarah Hodgdon, former president Allison Chin, and Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota were among the speakers, and members of the Sierra Student Coalition fired up the crowd with call-and-response cheers like, "What do we want?" "Clean energy!" "When do we want it?" "Now!"

"This was an opportunity to show the world that the climate movement can and should involve us all," said Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune. "I’m proud of the fact that the Sierra Club was able to harness the energy and commitment of so many people to join together with so many different organizations who have the same goal –- to take action on climate disruption and advance the new, clean, just, clean energy prosperity."

Years from now, if world leaders listen to the alarm being sounded by citizens to take meaningful action, future generations may look back at the People's Climate March as the watershed moment when the tide turned in the fight against climate disruption.

September 15, 2014

During the dog days of summer late last month, the Sierra Club sponsored a "Beat the Heat" event in Bellevue, Washington, to support Governor Jay Inslee's call for climate action and pressure Puget Sound Energy (PSE) to come up with a plan to transition from coal to clean energy.

Free ice cream cones were provided for the anticipated crowd of 250, but that proved to be too few. "Closer to 300 people turned out," says Seth Ballhorn, a Seattle-based organizer for the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign. "We hit our limit of 250 free ice cream cones in the first hour, but fortunately we were able to pay for additional cones."

"We had some great activities," Ballhorn says. "Three bands performed, and the opening band Right as Rain played some great coal-themed folk and bluegrass tunes. Table for Three and The Jalapeños also performed. As always, our giant inflatable coal plant was a hit with the crowd, and it provided a great backdrop for the event."

Speakers included Bellevue City Councilmember Lyn Robinson, who talked about the steps the city is taking to reduce climate pollution and encouraged PSE to clean up its act. Activists with Washington Bus talked about the moral imperative of tackling climate disruption, and Evan Leonard, vice-president of local unionized solar company Artisan Electric talked about the abundant clean energy in the Northwest and how jobs can be created converting to clean energy -- Artisan started with four employees in 2010 and now has more than 40.

Ballhorn, at left, wrapped up the speaking portion of the program with a call to action, urging people to support Governor Inslee's climate/clean energy agenda and help pressure Puget Sound Electric to quit coal and .

"We collected around 90 photo petitions using our iPads, 130 more petitions to PSE using iPads and clipboards, and signed people up to be Coal Free PSE petition captains," Ballhorn says. The Sammamish Nature Club had a kids' tree-planting table, face-painting, and games for younger participants in the rally.

"It was a very festive environment, with a noticeably diverse crowd," Ballhorn says. "I look forward to getting a lot of the new folks we signed up plugged in with our campaign in the coming weeks."

Unfortunately, the state suffers from the worst smog pollution on the East Coast, in part because of its seven coal-fired power plants. But the Sierra Club's Maryland Beyond Coal campaign is working to change that by pushing for the retirement of the four dirtiest plants: Crane, Wagner, Dickerson, and Chalk Point. That's the Wagner plant above, with downtown Baltimore in the background.

In early September, Sierra Clubbers, other concerned citizens, and representatives of partner organizations testified at a meeting of the Maryland Air Quality Control Advisory Council (AQCAC), where the state Department of the Environment (MDE) submitted its new proposed limits on smog-forming emissions for Maryland's coal-fired power plants for review by the council. The AQCAC is a citizen's advisory board that can effectively approve or deny air-related regulations proposed by MDE.

"The first hour of the early-morning meeting was standard procedure, and the council breezed through their usual business in a half-empty room," says Baltimore-based Beyond Coal organizer Seth Bush. "Then, as the chair introduced the section on the new smog emissions rules, 20 Maryland Beyond Coal activists streamed in wearing 'I Love Clean Air' stickers and took up all of the remaining seats." (Bush had arranged for a professional photographer to capture images of the Beyond Coal activists making their entrance, but unfortunately the shots didn't come out.)

"The council isn't accustomed to seeing such a show of support on a particular issue at their meetings, and they were clearly impressed when we packed the room," says Bush, at left. "Our supporters outnumbered the coal industry supporters almost 10 to 1. And as we learned after the meeting, the council was even more impressed by the sincere, compelling testimony given by attendees who called for the new emissions rules to be passed without further delay."

Baltimoreans with asthma, public health professionals, parents, faith community leaders, and other concerned citizens all testified on the need for MDE to take swift action cleaning up Maryland's dirty coal plants.

"The stories were inspiring, and the council was visibly moved," Bush says. A representative from the governor's office complimented us after the meeting on our impressive turnout and incredibly articulate, well-informed testimony."

Among those who testified was Baltimore resident Doris Toles, below at right, who suffers from serious respiratory issues exacerbated by the city's poor air quality.

"I had my first asthma attack when I was two," she told the council, "and I'm now living with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). A person gets COPD like I have after years of asthma attacks permanently weaken the lungs, and there is no cure. Doctors told me my asthma is triggered by air pollution where I live, so I have to be very careful and keep my inhaler close at hand on days when smog levels are high."

Although the council delayed a final decision until their next meeting in October, they provisionally approved MDE's plan to continue the regulatory process with the new emissions rules. "We aren't done yet, but we're well-positioned to win a yes vote in October," Bush says.

Bush gives a special shout-out to new Maryland Beyond Coal representative David Smednick for his "spot-on testimony and helping pull together our partners," and Sierra Club staff attorney Josh Berman, an expert on legal and legislative issues involving coal emissions, who also testified at the meeting.